Edward, Meet Your Sons
by Edwardslove
Summary: After the newborn fight, Bella gets pregnant and decides to leave Edward not knowing if he will want the baby. Bella gets changed. 71 years later they meet again with TWINS in tow. Will Edward grow close to his sons? Rating may change.
1. Our Little Family

**Hello everyone. This story might seem familiar to some. I started this a little while ago but when I went back to reread it for the next chapter I was APPALLED at a lot of the mistakes I made. So I simply deleted the story and rewrote it. It will still be the same but with more detail. I already have the next 6 chaps ready.**

**Thank you very much for sticking with me for this long.**

**Edward, Meet Your Sons**

As I stared at the thick manila envelope that the school sent home, I felt a moment of anger. The envelope that was sent home today was a very long list of pranks and jokes played on the teachers and students of my youngest son's high school class.

I looked up from the list that only seemed to get bigger the longer I looked at it. "Mason." I called my son down here in a tone of voice that I would normally only use in a conversation. Two seconds later only Gabriel came into the house from the garage, wearing only a pair of blue jean shorts. I couldn't help but gasp in surprise. To this day I still think I'm looking at Edwards's perfect twin. From what I can still remember of Edward, Gabriel was about two inches taller than Edward and had the same bronze-colored hair, only now it was cut short due to us having just took a "year off" from school to go mountain climbing recently, and Gabe liked the way it went with the rest of his features that he left it short. Gabe even had piercing green eyes from when Edward was human.

That's right Gabriel is Edward's son, right along with Mason. It's been 71 years since I left him.

"What do you need, mom?" Gabe asked, curious. "Nothing, I just need to know where Mason is." At this, Gabriel shrugged. "I'm not sure at the moment, but I can find him if you really need to see him." I nodded my head, "I need to speak to him about this list." I said gesturing to the very thick envelope. Gabriel nodded already seeing the argument that would ensue in his head.

I had discovered my powers around the time the twins were beginning to exhibit changes. I found I could put up a mental shield around myself and others around me to keep them safe from other vampires' gifts. That also explained why Edward could not read my mind when I was human. I also found out that I could use other vampires' powers as my own.

Gabriel then closed his eyes and focused for a moment. About eleven-and-a-half seconds later he opened his eyes, gave me a knowing smile, and then said, "I can't really tell you, mom, he's blocking my thoughts, he probably knows what's coming, but I can sense him nearby. I can try to find him if you want me to." Gabriel could read people's minds just like Edward as well. I should have guessed that with his good looks, he would also gain some of Edwards's abilities as well.

"That would be great, Gabe, thanks." and with that he turned, and loped gracefully out the back door to leave me alone with my thoughts. About fifty seconds later, I could hear both of my boys playfully wrestling in the back yard. Getting up, I then went out to the yard to see Gabriel and Mason playfully leaping and snapping at each other. I sighed, thank goodness for enclosed back yards; if humans would see this scene before them they would probably call the cops. I walked calmly toward both boys, and by the time I got to where they were, they had stopped their wrestling match and called it a draw.

I turned, first to Gabriel, lifted my mental shield thought, _Thank you Gabe, you can go back to tuning your drum set now_. Gabriel thought back a quick "_your welcome". _He then ran back to the four car garage we had installed to the side of the house. Gabriel had acquired Edwards love of music, but instead of expressing it through the piano, he preferred the drums. I then turned to my youngest son, Mason, to see him give me a shy smile then say in his favorite country accent he had learned to use in the south of Tennessee, "But ma, you know that them teachers are nothin' but a bunch a idiots who don't know nothin' about their subjects. I just get so bored in class." I sighed. I guess it was a good thing that Mace had taken after me more than his father. I don't think I could handle it if there were two Edward clones running around the house. Mason had gotten my dark brown hair, though he preferred to keep his at an average length. He had also inherited my brown eyes, and some of my otherworldly ability. Mace could mimic other people and movements to a fault. It certainly helped us get some money from concerts him and Gabriel played a few years back. The mind reading from Gabe didn't hurt much either. And because they are twins, they can hear each other's thoughts as well as mine when I lift my mental shield out of place, but if I wanted to; I could push out my shield and protect them both from other vampire powers.

"Mace, you have got to stop hassling these poor people, now I have to call the school and apologize for you and for me because I'm the only teacher you haven't embarrassed to some degree, they only know that because they think you two are my younger brothers that I had adopted." Mace honestly looked ashamed, but I knew that from past experience that I shouldn't let my guard down. Mace then smiled, did a backwards summersault in the air, and did three small leaps to the back porch. Using the same accent, he then said, "I'm sorry ma, I promise to let up, but only a little, but right now we're gonna be late for school." With that he then dashed into the house to get ready for our group drive to school.

Oh! I had almost forgot, we were going to be late if we didn't leave soon. I called Gabe to go get ready and in record time we were all in my truck on our way. My truck was a very new version of my old Chevy trucks cousin. It was a new Dodge Dune Blaster, customized to go all terrain by none other than Mason himself; apparently he had almost all of the same hobbies as Rosalie. Even though there was enough room in the back seat for the boys to ride in they always preferred to sit in the bed of the truck on the way to school. Oh sure, the twins had their own cars to drive themselves to school, but I made them promise that every Monday, we would drive together. Mason has a new Mercedes Guard, my personal favorite car but I still preferred trucks because that's what I had during the happiest days of my life. Gabe had a brand new H2 Hummer that he refused to let Mace touch because he said that is was fine the way it was.

We got to the school with ten minutes left to spare. Gabe waved a goodbye and went on inside, but I pulled Mason aside and told him to be on his best behavior, and then I sent him on his way. The twins and I all went to Forks High School, the boys were both in a junior grade and I was their junior English teacher.

After checking to be sure I had all the right paperwork for my lecture today, I myself started the trek to the English building. On my way out of the parking lot I noticed that there was a newly restored shiny silver Volvo sitting next to an equally restored canary yellow Porsche. I stopped suddenly, feeling a sudden sense of déjà vu. It seems that there are some new students in the school today as those cars were never here before. I shrugged off any feeling of hope before it could even mean something to me, and headed into the English Building.


	2. AndCue Cullen's

As I got settled into my seat at the front of the empty classroom, I noticed that all of the students in the hall way were speaking in hushed tones amongst themselves. They were probably obsessed about the new additions to the school today. I knew from experience that, in a school this small, word travels fast. I knew that two of them are going to be in this class sixth period right after lunch, the class I had Gabriel in, but I did not learn their names yet. The principal had said that there were five of them and that they seemed a little out there to him.

I was just preparing for my first period class when I felt the presence of my oldest son, Gabriel, just outside of the classroom. Class had not started yet, so I was not surprised to see him outside of class at this time. I heaved my mental shield away from my brain to hear what my son needed my right before class.

_Mom! We've got trouble. Are you free? _I heard his voice shouting in my head. Gabe was never one to really joke around like his little brother, though one wouldn't confuse him for a total stuck-up. I got up hoping this little problem can be solved before class starts. As I got into the hallway all of the students were in a flurry of activity around us. Apparently, there were two girls, and three boys in the new additions today, and they were interested in the newcomer's good looks.

"Have you seen them yet?" a tall but lean boy asks his group of friends.

"Not yet, but I heard from Katie that all of them are really good looking." a short but rather large girl from my third period class answers back, dramatically fanning herself.

"I wonder if any of them are available." A skinny bleach blonde girl asks.

I inconspicuously rolled my eyes, and continued over to where Gabriel was, leaning against the hallway wall trying to look like there was nothing bothering him. But after living with them for so long, it was always so easy to see the difference in their separate emotions, from happiness about having "super powers", to sadness to not having a father.

I have told the twins everything about the Cullen family. Even though I kept our Swan name in my father's memory, I didn't want our "coven" discovered so easily. I've told Mason how much he reminds me of Emmett, and about how Gabriel reminds me so much of Edward. I even told them why I left him. They blamed themselves and wanted to track them down and explain things, but I stopped them at the doorway. I loved Edward with all of my heart and more, and I still do, I was just not sure if he was as ready for the surprise pregnancy as I was.

I finally got to were Gabe was and trying to maintain a teacher/student relationship inside of school grounds, I calmly asked him, fully aware of all of the students in the hallways.

"What do you want to talk to me about Gabriel?"

Fully playing along with me, he started babbling something about needing extra credit for my class with him, but our real conversation was going on in our thoughts. Vampires are really good at multitasking.

_Mom, there are vampires here in the school _Gabe thought as calmly as he could.

This caught me by surprise. Vampires could always tell when there were others of their kind nearby, but I guess I was too preoccupied with thoughts of the classes I was teaching today and the new cars in the parking lot.

Continuing the fake conversation for the student's ears, I thought _Have you checked them out yet?_

_No, I wanted to tell you first before that, and to see if you wanted to listen in._

_Yes, I think I should. _I started playing with my mental shield, and, stretching it around Gabriel and myself, I could now see in to the minds of every human in this school, but the real minds I wanted in on were somewhere in the building. We finally found them near the cafeteria; I concentrated hard on the thoughts of the five unknown vampires to see if they knew we were here or not.

_I hope I look okay _One thought

_Grrr, I can't believe I lost that wrestling match to Jasper last night, _I gasped. _I'll have to challenge him again tonight._

Well, I think that they don't know were here but now I was worried about a whole new confrontation altogether. I concentrated harder and found what I was looking for, the private talk between two people I thought I would never see again.

_The weather is going to be nice for us on Wednesday night. I think we should go play baseball, God knows it's been a while._

"You can do whatever you want, I'm going to go to the cemetery to see Bella's gravestone." I could hear their voices now. I swear, if it was possible for vampires to cry, I would have been crying rivers at this point.

_Sure thing Edward. You know you should really think about moving on by now, I mean it's been 70 years. I miss her too, but her and her whole family is long gone by now._

"Well what if _she_ managed to move on, what if she has grandchildren somewhere in the world. She was the only thing in this world that mattered to me, and she left me and I still don't know why." He sounded severely hurt and confused. I truly did wish I didn't leave but it was for the best, I did not know if he wanted the children I was carrying at the time.

I broke off the thought process retreating back into my own mind before Gabe picked up my thoughts. I knew for sure that they did not know we were here but, why here of all places. Was the world really so small that I can't avoid them forever.

Finishing up our fake talk in real life, the mother role I pushed away during school hours reared its ugly head.

"Gabe, I want you to go get Mason, and head home right now, I'll tell all your teachers that you went home sick".

Gabriel, looking thoroughly confused at this point, asked, "Why, who are the vampires. What if they aren't safe, you'll need us around if things get ugly".

I needed to think about their safety first, "Just get Mace and go hunting today, I promise I'll explain everything tonight, but I may get home late, alright".

Gabe, knowing how stubborn I could get in an argument, gave up quickly and, wishing me luck and safety for today, dashed down the hall 'looking' for Mason.

I stayed rooted to the spot until I heard the engine of my truck drive out of the parking lot and west toward the Olympic National Park to hunt.

I could not let them be discovered by the family yet, not until I met with them first. I had to do this alone.

Sighing, I walked back to my now full classroom to get ready for teaching the students, and mentally preparing myself for the avalanche of stares and questions I was going to receive in sixth period.

**Please let me know what you think or if you have suggestions for me. I respond to every review.**

**I think I'll update once a week at least.**


	3. I found you again

**So I decided to post this chap early. I couldn't wait.**

**Edward finally comes into the picture! Let's see what happens. Meet you at the bottom.**

It was about twenty minutes before sixth period was supposed to start, and I was no closer to a solution then I was when school started. I had been keeping tabs on the Cullen's all day. They still don't know that I am here, but I'm still surprised that they would not know yet. Edward was the oldest of the group now, besides Carlisle, so you'd think that he, if not the others, would sense another vampire in the vicinity. Although, I rarely left my classroom during the day so my scent is not the easiest thing to pick up until you're right outside of the room.

I had time before class was to start, so I decided to head on over to the bathroom down the hallway to clean myself up, and look presentable. I opened the door to the girl's bathroom, and I stopped dead in my tracks.

I smelled the sweet smell of another vampire.

Ignoring my idea to wait until they spotted me in the classroom, I continued walking around the corner knowing who it might be. As I rounded the final corner, I came face to face with none other than Alice.

Alice heard me coming when I opened the bathroom door, but she probably smelled me then as well. She stared at me with shock the most featured on her face. Others were confusion, pain, understanding, and happiness. We continued to stare at each other for about three seconds when Alice let out a high pitched squeal and ran to me, and embraced me hard enough that it would break my back had I still been human.

"OH MY GOD BELLA, IS IT REALLY YOU?" Alice screamed loud enough for the whole school to hear, probably broke my ear drums as well.

"Hi Alice! Long time no see." I said with almost as much enthusiasm as she used, hugging her back. Alice looked the same as she always did. Maybe a little smaller, but that might be because I was left to grow a little before I was changed. We stood there for a minute more, and then released each other.

"Bella, how are you here? How did I not see this happen?" Alice looked really confused at this point. "I mean, you told us not to look for you but just because I was not looking, does not mean I can't see".

Just hearing Alice talk felt like we were never apart. I could hear her talk forever, and now I had that opportunity, but I had a few questions for her involving a certain vampire I hoped still loved me, and would not be mad at me fork keeping him in the dark for now. But Alice beat me to the punch.

"How did you change? What have you been doing for 70 years? Why haven't you tried to find us? We could have helped you in your newborn year. How can-"

Her mouth was going a mile a minute, so I had to stop her there.

"Alice everything is fine I'll explain everything later but right now, I think it's time for class".

Realization hit her features just then.

"You're our teacher. Boy, Edward was mad as a grizzly all day because we had a teacher with your last name. He was mad that it reminded him of you. It was almost unbearable to be around him. Man, is he gonna be happy to see you again after all this time".

Hearing Alice say Edwards name was like opening my eyes for the first time in my new life. Sure I said his name on occasion when the boys would ask a question, but it was nothing compared to someone else saying it. Then I realized that she can't tell him. Not while we were in school anyway.

"Alice, you can't tell Edward, let him see me in class and I'll explain everything at the end of the day".

Her eyes got that glazed over look she always got when she was having a vision. "Oh, that's a good idea." She said, clapping her hands together. "You'll have to come over our house tonight. Esme will be ecstatic to see you again".

"Sure, Alice, that would be great, but would you mind if I brought a few people with me?"

It was the confused face again. "Bella, do you have a coven? Oh no, do you have a mate? You do, don't you. Oh Bella, you know how much that's gonna kill Edward. I mean he just got you back, and now he's lost you again, and he hasn't even seen you yet. How many-"

I had to cut her off again. So that meant that Edward did not find someone else. _Thank God_. We were really cutting class time close though. "Alice, you need to calm down. I don't want you alerting Jasper, or Edward. I suppose that, yes I have a coven but, no, I do not have a mate. These people are my friends, and I think Edward really needs to meet them".

"Okay, I won't say anymore. I'm already in danger of Edward hearing me anyway. He's still in the cafeteria, so he won't see you until you are in the classroom. We will talk after school is over, alright?"

"Yes Alice, that will be fine, see you then".

With that, Alice hugged me one more time and danced off without another word. It seems strange, but I'm actually exited for this meeting to finally come. I was very surprised that she did not bring up the twins though. You would think that being a psychic, and all, she would have known that she was an aunt by now.

I was finally back in my classroom mentally getting ready. Alice had gone off to stall Edward, so I could be here first. I giggled to myself. Alice was probably translating the National Anthem into German at this point, so I decided to help her out. I focused really hard and found Alice's presence inside of the cafeteria. I started stretching my shield around inside of my head and brought it around Alice's body, effectively, stopping all thought from getting to Edward. Only then did I hear the conversation start up.

"Alice! What just happened? I can't hear your thoughts anymore!"

"Huh? You can't?" I heard Alice ask, truly confused.

"No! You were translating the Constitution into French, and then, suddenly your thoughts disappear like they were never there. What happened?"

"Oh, that must be it, OK I get it. Sorry Edward, but you will have to wait for class to start, before you can hear my thoughts again. There is someone you really need to meet".

I heard Edward growl in confusion and anger, but then retreat to silence. _Phew. _I continued to keep my shield around Alice until they were just outside of my classroom.

"Now Edward, you have to promise me you will not freak out but you really need to see for yourself".

I took that as my cue and released Alice from my shield, and freeing her thoughts again. It only took about three-fifth of a second and then Edward came into my view from the hallway.

"Alice, what are you talking abo-" He stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he spotted me.

It was like seeing the sun for the first time. I was still enthralled by his beauty, At this point I thought he was going to pass out. The looked like he was about to have a panic attack. He looked at me almost like that first day we met, only without the need to kill me. But I remembered why I was here, and then I went to work. I lifted my shield from my mind, and then thought with as much love and assurance as I could.

_Hello Edward_

At my words, he flinched. I guess he did not expect that to happen. He looked at me then, with sad and longing eyes. So I decided that it was time to stop this conversation for another time and start class.

_Calm down, Edward, everything will be okay. I will explain everything when school's over, okay? _

He blinked, coming back to Earth; he then nodded very slowly and went to an empty seat in the middle of the classroom. Alice was right behind him, taking her seat to the far left of the room, farthest from the door, but not without stopping to wink at me.

By now the class was full, and I went to work, starting out by handing Edward and Alice their school books, and introducing them to the class. I then handed out homework from the night before, and then proceeded to tell the students to start reading from the chapter we left off on Friday in their textbooks, and then complete the questions at the end on a piece of paper. I then went to sit at my desk prepared to watch the class work, but I caught a pair of golden eyes staring at me.

I'm pretty sure I know what he was thinking at the time, but I decided to play the silent game and stare right back. Whenever a student looked up towards me or Edward, we quickly looked down to our separate papers, until they looked away, and then we resumed our staring contest. Edwards hand did not stop the entire time, he was writing the answers to the questions in the book. Probably getting them out of the other students, and maybe Alice's heads. It was a long hour, but in the end Edward did not stay after class like I thought he would. The second the bell rang, Edward was out of his seat, and I had my questions in my hand, and he dashed out of the door before any of the others kids, even Alice, were out of their seat.

Alice then dashed up to me, and whispered low enough so the kids would not hear. "Don't worry, he'll be back at the house later, he just needs some time to think, and get his head on straight. And thank you for the help in the lunchroom; you'll have to explain to me what you did back there".

Thanking Alice, and promising to explain things later, she then hugged me again and dashed off to her last class of the day, and left me with my thoughts.

I had a free period at the end of the day so I decided to call my sons to make sure they were still far away from the school. They were somewhere in the Olympic National Forest and were going to head home soon. I told them that they should head on over to the house, get changed, and then wait for me to call them to give them directions to the Cullen's house. Gabe questioned me profusely, but I calmed him down saying that everything will be explained tonight. We said our goodbyes and then hung up.

At the end of the day, I met Alice at the front door to the school and we walked to her car. The Volvo was gone so that must mean he left right after class.

"Yes, Edward left after your class, and he took the others with him, but he did not tell them yet. I stayed behind to get you to come to our house. Where's your car, you need to see everybody".

"Uh, sorry Alice, but my friends took my car today, and dropped me off here. Do you mind if I ride with you?"

"No, of course not, get in." Alice and I piled into her yellow Porsche, and drove off towards the house I once called my home.

~o~O~o~

As Alice drove, always to fast, through the sleepy town, we talked about what we have been doing for the past 70 years and other stuff. I was still very surprised that she still did not bring up the twins, and I was about to ask her myself until she interrupted me.

"So Bella, do you have any powers"?

"Yes, I can create a mental shield around others and myself. It turns out that was always the reason Edward could not hear my thoughts".

"And what about what happened in the cafeteria? I knew that was you, somehow".

"Oh, that was nothing, I just blocked out your mind from Edward, and he couldn't hear you until you were just outside my door".

"So, you can stop other vampires from getting hit by our abilities?"

"No, I can put a shield up around someone, and they are basically wiped off the Earth to someone like Edward. It would have no effect on someone like you or Jasper."

It was mildly surprising at how easy or often I was saying Edwards name. It was like we were never apart.

"Do you do that a lot in your coven?"

"Yes, when they like to start fights with each other, I use my powers to give them an even fight. You would not believe how much Gabe and Mace remind me of Edward".

"Hm…Wait…what? What do you mean by that? Why would someone Edward has never met, remind you of him?" _Oops _slip up. Well might as well get this over with now.

"Um…well, you see. Gabe and Mace are my sons. I gave birth to them before I was turned".

"Wow. Okay, but why would two old people remind you of my brother?" _Ugh _This is getting difficult to explain, so I might as well come out and say it.

"Well you see, Gabriel, and Mason, are Edward's sons, and, no, they are not old people. I was pregnant with them, that's why I left so long ago, and I thought that they would remain human all their lives but they got it from Edward, and they kind of grew into their powers. I guess I was just afraid that Edward would not be ready for children, and so I left".

Boy it felt good to finally get that off of my chest. I've kept it in so long that the words came out in a rush, but I knew that Alice heard every word. She was silent for a few seconds, trying to take it all in, when finally she let out the unneeded breath she was holding, and said. "Wow. I'm an aunt." I then sighed in relief. Well, at least Alice was happy about this situation.

"But how is that possible, and I'm not talking about you guys doing the nasty, Emmett will rag on you enough for the whole family, he still thinks poor Edward is a virgin. But, I'm talking about, how can vampires have children?"

I sighed again, and then explained my theories about vampires fathering kids. We chatted about the twins the whole way to the Cullen's house.

"Hey, when can we meet them, I can't wait to see my nephews." she had a faraway look into her eyes, and I realized she was having a vision. "Oh, okay, they will be there later, I can't wait, and I bet Esme will be exited".

We finally got into the garage of the Cullen's big three story mansion. Once again, it was like I never left. The house was still white, with three of the four sides covered in nothing but glass. We got out of her car, and then Alice proceeded to lead me into the house. When we got in I could not help but gasp at the beauty of the inside of the house, again it was like I never left, it was still the exact same as if I never left.

"Esme, Carlisle, Jasper, Rose, Emmett!" Alice shouted out so loud that I know they would hear if they were even a mile down the road.

A flurry of activity happened then. The whole family, minus the one person I wanted to see the most, came down the stairs to see what was happening. They all stopped at the foot of the stairs, took in my form for about three seconds, and then converged on me, hugging.

"Oh my goodness, Bella, we all missed you so much!" Esme's voice rang out first.

"Bella, how is this possible? You should be six feet under by now." Emmett's voice came to me then. Leave it to him to liven up the situation.

"Bella, you're alive, we're so glad to see you". I could hear Carlisle's voice at my right side then. I hugged each one of them, and said. "Thank you. It's so great to be back here after all this time". I noticed that Jasper stayed about three feet away from the melee that was my welcoming. Hm…I guess old habits die hard. I could see confusion on his face along with curiosity, but he was probably getting bombarded by so many emotions in the room.

That was when they started bombarding me with questions, but I told them, "I'm sorry for this everyone, but I think you really need to wait until we are all together to hear this. So we need to wait for Edward and my family to arrive."

They looked at me in confusion at this point, so Alice, bless her heart, intervened, by saying, "Everyone, this is a really confusing subject so we have to wait for Edward, and her friends to come, okay?" Even though she simply repeated my sentence, the others seemed to listen to her.

The whole family was still very confused, so I excused myself to call my 'coven' to give them directions to the house. I could hear everyone arguing inside, they wanted to talk to me some more, and Alice would not let them until Edward, and my 'friends' arrived.

"_Mom, where are you, well come pick you up" _Gabe's voice rang out over the phone.

"No, Gabe, you need to get Mason, and come to this address.' I gave Gabe the address over the phone so he could put it into his GPS in his H2.

"_But mom, why are we going to meet these vampires? I thought you wanted to stay away from any others of our kind". _I could hear buttons being pressed on the other line, must be Gabe's GPS.

It was true. I did avoid other vampires throughout the years, even when other covens came through an area we were in, we left immediately. It might have something to do with how I was changed; I mean that vampire is still out there somewhere, right? So it would be considered normal for me to be suspicious of others of our kind.

There were two or three times when a vampire would follow us, and antagonize us. Every situation ended in a fight. I guess I don't need to say that we won. Gabe, Mace and I together make the best tag team I know.

"Look, this is different, just come as fast as you can, everything will be explained when you get here."

There was a long pause on the other end,"_…It's _them_ isn't it?"_

I chuckled. Leave it to Gabe to figure things out. "Yes it is. Get over here quickly will you?" I said impatiently.

"_We'll be there in ten minutes, don't worry." _and with that, he hung up.

It was strange, but Gabriel sounded almost exited to come here. I hope that was the case, because we were going to be here for a while.

As soon as I hung up the phone, I was aware of someone behind me. I whirled around to be confronted with a pair of golden eyes. Edward was standing about two feet from me, staring at me like he just saw me climbing out of my grave. Well, he was almost right. He has been going around thinking that I was dead for the past 70 years, so the look he was giving me was well deserved.

The silence between us was getting a little unsettling; I could still hear everyone in the house arguing, so they did not know Edward was here with me. I did not mind in the slightest, but it was going to look weird when the twins show up, and we were still in the same place. So I made the first move, by saying, "Hello, again, Edward, it's really nice to see you again".

He waited for about five seconds then said, "Hello Bella, I would say it's nice to see you to, but I'm very confused at the moment, could you explain why you're here like this, please?"

My God, it was so nice to finally hear his voice. It was like I never heard him speak to me. All the other times I heard him speak were in my human ears, and when I heard him in the lunchroom at school, but that was from far away, so that had nothing on the fact that he was right here in front of me.

"Um… it's very hard to explain, but when I left you back then, I was not sure if you wanted something that happened back then."

"And, that was…?" he asked, still very much confused.

At that moment, Alice and the others came out, because they heard us, and wanted to see what was going on. Alice danced to my side, and said to Edward, "Edward isn't this wonderful? Bella is back with us again, and she has a wonderful surprise for you. They will be here in about five minutes." Leave it to Alice to save the day.

Edward wheeled on her then, "I don't care about a surprise, right now. I just want to know why Bella left and why she's here right now". Edward did not sound mad, but still very confused about all of this, so I interjected.

"Edward, I left because something happened, but now everything is fine and you will see the 'surprise' Alice was talking about". He turned his bright golden eyes on me, silently begging me to explain.

Alice then took that as her que to say, "Alright, everyone, back inside the house, we need to give them a minute to catch up before **they** get here". She then started shooing the rest of the family back into the house, leaving me and Edward alone in the driveway.

"You don't know how much I missed you Bella. Why did you leave?" he sounded so sincere, and so sad. It hurt to look into his eyes. I know he was sad because I left so long ago, but I was not sure he wanted the twins. It was so hard to not run into his arms, and cry nonexistent tears all over his shirt. But I had to be strong until the twins got here.

And speak of the devil there they were.

Well, about a quarter mile from the house. Edward heard them as well. He turned his head quizzically in the direction of the engine and we both listened as the car they were driving took a sharp right onto the Cullen's driveway, and rode that at one hundred miles an hour. Just then Gabriel's H2 Hummer came into view, going over a small dune just past the trees. At the speed they were going that small dune might as well have been a ramp, because they went sailing into the air about ten feet, then landed safely on the ground, five feet from Edward, and I.

Gabe turned off the Hummer, and then both boys got out of their side of the car. Mason's side was facing away from us so as soon as he got out of the car; he jumped on top of the roof only to jump down to our side. Mace's weight brought the vehicle down about two inches, and I could hear the shocks protesting to the added weight. This earned an irritated glare from Gabe but he said nothing as he stood there. I didn't need to lift my shield to know that he was saying some not-so-friendly words to his little brother. Mace just smiled at him.

Edward said nothing as he watched this silent exchange between them, till he turned to me.

"Bella, is this your coven?" he asked in a hushed tone. I knew that he would know they were vampires as soon as mace jumped six feet into the air. Nothing gets past him. I smiled.

I motioned for them to come over here, and when they did, they both hugged me and then flanked me, Gabe on my right, Mace on my left. I was pretty sure that Gabe filled Mace in on the way here so I started introductions without thinking what I was doing.

"Edward, I would like you to meet Gabriel McCarty Swan, and Mason Anthony Swan. …Edward, meet your sons.

**TA-DA! How do you think he'll react? **

**Leave me some love!**


	4. Will You Forgive Me?

**Not even gonna say anything. I know how much you've been waiting for this.**

**See you at the bottom.**

I was really beginning to worry about Edward's physical health at this point. It almost looked like he was turning purple in the face, almost like my father did when he found out about the motorcycles somewhere in a distant memory. Edward's eyes kinda bulged out, then his eyes started darting between Gabe, Mace and I, and I decided to give him a few moments to let the new information sink in.

He audibly gulped and took one small step backwards before saying, "Excuse me?" He said. "My… My what?"

"Edward, these are our children, Gabriel, and Mason. They're twins."

"Umm…alright…so, how are you alive exactly?" This question was directed at me, but his eyes never left either of the twins.

"Well… kind of a long story, but basically, the jist of it was that the reason I left, was because I was pregnant and I did not know how you were going to take the news. Then later I found out that the twins were kind of growing into their powers, so before you jump to any conclusions, I did not change them when they turned seventeen. And I'm very sorry I left so long ago, and I sincerely hope that you will forgive me, please." _Phew _it felt so good to finally tell Edward all of this. Like with Alice, everything kind of came out in a rush, but I know Edward heard every word.

"Huh… well we certainly have a lot to talk about Bella." I was very excited about the fact that he still wanted to talk to me after the way I treated him so long ago. I nodded.

"Yes. Um. Ah." He turned his head to the house. "Alice!"

Not even a second went by before Alice danced down the steps to stand next to Edward, a knowing smile on her face.

"Would you mind taking the twins in to meet the family?" He said in a very hushed voice so everyone inside could not hear…yet.

Without a word, Alice glided over to the twins and I.

"Hey there." She spoke to the twins. "My name is Alice as you've already heard. I'm one of your aunts. Come on inside and meet everyone else. You can talk to Edward later." She grabbed both the boys' hands and pulled them reluctantly toward the house.

"Be good you two. Oh, and Mace, don't team up with Emmett for any kind of joke or anything." I told the boys before they disappeared into the house.

I tried to listen in on the conversation inside the house, but Edward cleared his throat. "Do you mind if we go into the garage, it will be quieter in there and we can talk more freely."

"Sure Edward, whatever you want." I said. He then took my hand and led me into their oversized garage. Emmett's jeep, and Rosalie's BMW were in there, but I could not focus on them right now. The only thing I saw was Edward's eyes as he watched me, leaning against Emmett's car. I leaned against Rose's car and looked him in the eye. We were less than a foot from each other again, and like before, I resisted the urge to reach out to him, until I was sure that I would be received in the manner I hoped for.

"So, what is it that you want to know first?" I asked.

"Well, Gabriel and Mason seem like a good place to start. You said I was their father." He said. It was more of a statement, not a question. But I answered it anyway.

"Yes. You are." I said. "Look Edward I know everyone is going to think I'm crazy and that this is just impossible and that vampires can't-" I stopped because Edward put his finger to my lips.

"Bella, I believe you, and I don't think you're crazy. I was just going to ask you how they felt about me, since I can't read their minds."

"Oh." I said feeling embarrassed. "You can't read their minds?"

Edward shook his head. "No. I'm not at all saying that I don't believe you but if they truly are our children, I guess it would make sense that they got it from you. So, how do they feel about me?"

"Well, they didn't object to meeting you and they actually seemed kind of excited about it. I've told them a lot about all of you so in a way they already know you and your family."

"That's good." He said. He was thinking about something. I could tell by his face. "I should have said something to them, anything. I just didn't know how to respond to such big news. I really hope they aren't hurt by my reaction."

"I think they'll understand."

"What did you mean, by telling Mason to not team up with Emmett?"

"Well Mace reminds me of Emmett so much, and he also has his personality, but Gabe really reminds me of you. He looks just like you, I'm sure you noticed, he even has your mind reading ability, that's how I found out you guys were in school today."

"And what power does Mason have?"

"Well, he can mimic voices, and movements his target makes, he got into a lot of trouble in school for that." I rolled my eyes at the memory of earlier this morning.

"Well, it seems that I really missed a lot haven't I?" He said guiltily.

"It's nothing that you can't make up for." I said trying to comfort him; I had to fight the urge to hug him.

"That's not true; you had to do all of this yourself. You were all alone. Why didn't you come find me? You know I would have been there for you. Whether you wanted me there or not. I still love you with all my heart, and I'm so sorry. I should have ignored your note and looked for you." He was ranting at this point, running his hand through his perfect hair, so I had to stop him from putting more blame on himself. Without thinking, I went up to him, and hugged him. I was ecstatic that I was received in a rather tight embrace.

"Bella, I should have been there. You had to raise two children all by yourself. Even being a vampire, it's still a lot to do all by yourself." he was truly beating himself up over this. Now I had to fight the urge to do more than hug him.

"Edward, it's fine, really, they were perfectly behaved children for me. I could not have asked for better sons. Oh, and I'm sure you are wondering, they don't hate you, they need you. It's my fault that they grew up without you. I'm surprised that they don't hate me for it. They need their father. Now more than ever." I said, still trying to comfort him.

"Thank you. But I guess that's something I need to hear from them."

"I understand." I realized that I was still hugging him, so I stepped a foot back out of his embrace, to lean on Rose's car again, still watching him.

"Bella?"

"Yes?"

"Do…Do you still need me? …Want me?"

For what was probably only a few seconds, but what felt like an hour I just stared at him, trying to read his thoughts from his face. I could easily turn his powers back at him to read his mind, but I thought better of it. Better to not push him for now, by showing off.

"Yes, Edward, I still need you, just as much now as ever. And I want you more now than I ever have. I know I said I was sorry for leaving, but you'll never know how sorry." I loved everything about this man. His eyes, his hair, his voice, even his smell- that's my favorite. I knew that he was something I never should have run from, let alone tried to stay away from.

Edward just started at me. And after an excruciating moment or me trying to measure his reaction, he smiled my favorite crooked smile. He leaned forward and just before his lips were about to meet mine he said "Well, I guess that's all I could ever ask for."

And then he kissed me. At first it was soft, as if he were waiting to measure my reaction. So I kissed him back, just like I'd always wanted to, with no barriers, with no excuses for him to stop. But he did stop after just a moment. "Bella, by the way, I need you, too. I'll always need you. I love you."

When he said these words to me I couldn't stop myself. My body came to life of its own accord, my right hand went up to thread itself in his hair while my other hand reached down to grab a fistful of his shirt.

He moved his left hand as it came to rest on the small of my back, and his right began to caress my cheek. I felt him part his lips and brush his tongue against my closed mouth, silently asking for my permission to enter. I moaned softly, and opened my mouth a little. His hot tongue met mine and I moaned again, while feeling the hand that was on my back, tighten into a fist. The hand that was on my cheek moved down to my chin. He proceeded to tilt my head back slightly to give him better access to my mouth and deepen the kiss.

Once he was satisfied with my position, the hand that was on my chin traveled down to join his other to rest on my hips, pulling me flush against him. Our lips moved against one another's like we were never apart. He remembered exactly what made me breathless, not like that was a problem anymore.

We stayed like that for what felt like days, and I would not have noticed, but I guess it was short lived, because someone cleared their throat out in the driveway. Edward and I stopped kissing, and he took a step back, looking embarrassed that we were caught.

"Looks like you two made up." Came a gruff voice. I looked up to see Gabriel standing in front of his Hummer. He had a rather large tear down the side of his jeans, and his shirt was missing. He truly did look like Edward in that moment. I guess that they could pass as twins now more than Mace could, he looked more like me, so that would make him my brother, or my twin. I stifled a giggle. The thought, of my 'seventeen' year old boys could pass as their parents twins.

"Gabe, what happened to you?" I asked.

Gabe shrugged his shoulders and said, "Mace didn't listen to you about Emmett, I was their first target. I couldn't take it anymore." He did not look like he cared that he just found his parents making out in the garage, but that was Gabriel. He could hide his emotions very well.

I was kind of annoyed with the fact that Mace did not listen to me, but I was a little more annoyed that this interrupted my time with Edward. But still, now that Gabe was out here, I might as well get this over with. I grabbed Edwards hand and dragged him out into the darkening sky. I brought him right in front of Gabe and said, "Edward, this is one of your sons, Gabriel, and Gabe this is your father, Edward," I said, pointing to each one of them in turn. Edward was the first to speak.

"Hello, Gabriel, it's nice to finally meet you. Would you prefer Gabriel, or Gabe?" He asked, extending his hand toward his son.

"Hello, I glad that we could finally meet, and you can call me whatever you want to call me. Mom usually calls us by our nicknames, except for when she's yelling at Mason." he said. Gabe sidestepped Edward's hand, and embraced Edward hard. Edward seemed shocked at first, but relaxed quickly and put his arms around his son just as tight.

Edward and Gabriel were truly like twins at that point; the only difference I could see was that Gabe had short hair, and that he was two inches taller than Edward. They cut short their embrace, because Edward said, "Wow you do look a lot like me." he said laughing. Gabe laughed with him, and I was excited to have the most important things in my life together finally.

"Alright, you two stay out here, I'm going in to do damage control, alright?"

"Alright Bella, we'll be right behind you." He looked like he wanted to kiss me, but he did not move. Probably because Gabe was watching.

I told the boys to have fun, and made my way into the house. I found everyone in the living room, sitting on the many pieces of furniture that they owned, with Mace and Emmett in the middle. Emmett was doing his best impression of a grizzly bear, growling and snarling at Mace, and Mace was copying him move for move. Everyone was laughing at the exchange. I giggled to myself. Well, that explained Gabe's missing shirt, and ripped pants. I'm guessing that they tag teamed and wrestled with Gabe. Without me to put my shield around Gabe, he can't properly combat his brother fairly. Mace's powers were very formidable when he wanted them to be.

I made my way over to them. Emmett was the first to notice my presence. He stopped his advance on Mace and turned to me. He swept me up into another bone crunching hug.

"Baby sister! We all missed you so much." Just like his sister before him, his hug would have broken every bone in my body if I wasn't just as indestructible as he was. "But now you need to explain to us why you're here. All we know is that Mason, and Gabriel are part of your coven." he said with a lot of enthusiasm, not putting me down until he was done speaking. When he did I looked around him at Alice and said, "You didn't tell them?"

"No, I was waiting for you. Remember, even I don't know the whole story." she said protecting herself. At that moment, Edward and Gabriel came into the house. Gabe had his arm around Edward's shoulders, almost like he was having trouble standing. But they were both laughing. My long dead heart warmed at the sight.

Now everyone was crowded on the furniture in the room. Mason was sitting between Emmett and Rosalie, and Gabe was sitting next to Edward on the floor, all of them were staring at me standing next to the fireplace.

I took a deep breath. "Okay, I guess I'll start at the beginning. Um… well, about a day before the newborn fight, Edward and I were talking about our wedding, and the conditions that led to that. I'm still not sure what led to it, but our talk led to some…very intimate moments…" I looked down at my feet. I couldn't meet their eyes. Then, Emmett, oh ye of one track mind, piped in after a second.

"Dude! Our little Eddie had sex! Woo!" He raised his hand to give Edward a high five, but Rosalie reached across Mason to smack him in the back of the head. I silently thanked her with my eyes and continued.

"Well, after two or three weeks I began to feel really sick and was throwing up a lot. Edward was really worried about me, and talked me into seeing a doctor after two more weeks of this. I told him that I wanted to see another doctor besides Carlisle. Sorry Carlisle." I looked at him.

"That's alright Bella. I know how adverse you were to being treated by anyone. No offence is taken. Please go on."

I nodded. "Okay, I waited until Edward was on a hunting trip with Emmett and Jasper to go to a doctor I found in Port Angles. Edward wanted to come with me but I remember assuring him that it probably was just a little stomach bug that was going around. He countered by saying stomach bugs don't last three weeks, but I wanted him to hunt. He hasn't hunted for three weeks since I got sick.

I went to the doctor and she did some routine tests, but what shocked me was the urine test. It came back positive for pregnancy."

Everyone was stunned. So I just took the horse by the reigns and continued, "The doctor thought that my reaction to the news was that the pregnancy was unplanned, and started talking to me about options. Of course the pregnancy was unplanned but I just COULD NOT get an abortion. And I couldn't very well put it up for adoption. What if the baby started showing vampire qualities? That would blow the whole vampire secret out of the water when the baby started going after the family pet.

I politely told the doctor that I was planning to keep it, but what I was not sure about was Edward reaction."

I knew that everyone had already put two and two together but they were silent and let me continue.

"When I got home Edward was waiting for me in my room. He noticed my change in behavior right away and immediately thought the worst. He was about to call Carlisle but I stopped him by saying that nothing was wrong, it was just a normal test and that the sickness would only last another day or two at the most. I threw all of the papers that the nurse gave me in a trashcan outside of the doctors so no one would find them accidently, but not after I read through them.

I did whatever I could to alleviate the morning sickness: eating saltine crackers, getting rest. I remember Edward being very confused by my new behavior over the next week, but I told him that the doctor to just treat this like a pregnancy. I thought then that it was a mistake to tell him treat it like so but I couldn't think of anything else at the time.

I was still trying to figure out what to tell Edward. I wasn't sure if he would be supportive. Or just call me crazy. It was a very long thought process but in the end I figured Edward would be better off not knowing about the baby that was growing inside me.

Then I set to plan out my escape. I couldn't let Edward, Alice or anyone else know. I spent more time with Jacob so Alice couldn't see me planning. He knew nothing about this either. I waited until Alice dragged Jasper to France for some designer show and everyone else was hunting. I was very careful not to decide anything until the last second so that Alice wouldn't pick up on it."

"I remember that. I kept seeing flashes of you walking with your mom on the beach but I just thought that you and Edward just went to Florida to see her, since he wasn't with you in the sunlight. Now that I think about it you did look a little larger, but I thought you just gained the Freshman Fifteen. I didn't think anything of it." Alice piped in.

I nodded and kept going. "I left a note on the table saying not to look for me. I left the ring that Edward gave to me and the keys to the new car in the ignition. It hurt me very much to do that to you Edward, but it was the only thing I could think of. I just didn't think I could handle you saying that we should get rid of it." My voice cracked on the last word with the hint of dry sobs, and I looked down, ready for damnation.

Edward rose from his spot next to Gabe and put his hands on my face, forcing me to look at him.

"Bella, please don't beat yourself up over this." He leaned down to place a feather light kiss to my forehead. "Please. What happened next?" his eyes shone with so much love that I couldn't deny him. I nodded and he went back to his perch on the floor. Once I calmed down a little I started again.

"Once I was off the plane in Florida and at my mom's house. I explained my situation to her. I simply said that I didn't want Edward to know, because we weren't ready for children. And that once the baby was born I would find him and explain. She was kind of ticked off at you for a little while. Knowing my mom, she thought that you would make me get rid of it, but I told her that that wasn't the case. It was just a little more delicate. She also thought that I cheated on you with Jacob at some point and that it was his! But I'm sure that everyone here is smart enough to know that is not true."

I heard Edward growl under his breath and I smiled.

"At some point during the pregnancy I found out that I was having twins. I was such a shock! There were no twins that ran in my family or Edward's as far as I knew.

I was relieved when the twins were finally born. They seemed fully human. Not an ounce of vampire qualities.

I was finished high school so my mom watched the twins during the day so I could finish my college classes and get my degree. When the twins were about six months old I found an apartment for rent. It was really hard for us for a while. More than once, I had to borrow money from mom and sometimes Charlie would send me money. But everything got better when I got a teaching job at the local school. Mom still watched the kids during the day. As the years went by I started seeing changes in the twins. At six years of age they started exhibiting the speed and strength that I immediately knew what was happening. My boys were slowly morphing into vampires. About a year after the first changes started happening they stopped eating human food I was then forced to teach my seven year old boys how to hunt. They stopped sleeping at around ten years old. Finally at seventeen years of age Gabriel and Mason stopped aging and their little 'transformation' was complete. Just like me, they exhibited almost no pull toward human blood, and also like me they only showed a faint glow in the sunlight." I took a deep breath…and waited.

No one moved for the longest time. Even Edward seemed to be shocked still. This story was nothing new to the twins so they both got up from their seats and walked over to me. Gabe was the first to reach me and wrapped his arms around me in a very comforting hug that I returned. Mace came over and wrapped his arms around us both. No one said anything, it was all the encouragement I needed. They both let go and turned to the family and waited with me.

"Wow." Was all Emmett said. After a moment Rose piped in.

"Wow is right. We are all aunts. And Uncles." she said, looking around the room.

"And we're Grandparents." Esme said, looking first at Carlisle, then at both of my sons.

"Yes, it seems we are, but I can't help but wonder. How did you change Bella?" Carlisle said wondering. I felt Gabe stiffen at my side. I can't blame him for his reaction. When I told them they wanted to find this unknown vampire and kill her. Edward finally got up from his position and came over to me. Mace and Gabe stepped aside to let him in. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, looked in my eyes and said, "Love, are you alright? You don't have to tell us right now if you don't want to." I nodded but I knew I had to.

"No it's alright I can't keep it in anymore. You all deserve to know." Edward looked like he was about to say something but decided against it and the three of them went back to their seats. I took another unnecessary deep breath, and began again.

"It was a three months after I graduated from college. The twins were a little over a year old. It was almost Christmas time and I had to go shopping for them. My truck was almost the last one in the parking lot. I was nearly there when I was suddenly aware of something behind me. I turned around and realized that it was not a something but a somebody. I did not recognize the person but I knew immediately what they were. It was a female vampire."

Edward hissed loudly, surprisingly startling Gabe who was sitting beside him. I pretended not to notice.

"The female vampire then grabbed me and proceeded to drag me into the nearby alleyway. I then knew that it was all over for me, I would never see my children or Edward again. I gulped back the scream that was building and prepared myself for my fate. The woman bit me right underneath my jugular. God the pain was incredible, it was like someone shoving a million needles into my neck, removing them and pushing them in again. But to my great surprise, she let me go after the first few seconds and threw me to the ground. Through the haze in my brain I heard the words:

'You left your mate to protect him, but let's see how you fare when you are forced into our world with him forever.' It was like she knew me, but I did not know who has done this to me. The unknown female then decided to leave me to my fate.

I braced myself for the upcoming pain I knew was supposed to come, but none came. Although there was some tingling feeling in my limbs, there was no pain that Edward had described. I stood up I realized that this was the change for me. I had decided that it was because Edward could not read my mind that was why I was special. I then decided to go and check in to a nearby motel before it was too late, before the unfamiliar burn in my throat would cause me to try and kill someone on the streets.

As I sat in the hotel room on the unstable bed, I could make more sense of what was happening. My mind could now wrap itself around more possibilities of why I was not feeling pain at this point. I could also start to see everything in minute detail. I could see every microscopic crack in the walls and floors of the small room. I could also think clearer. I began to worry about not being able to see my children again, would they recognize their mother after they grew up for about a year.

When the tingling feeling was finally gone in just under two days, I was still confused as to why there was no dehydrated feeling in my throat. I had decided to risk it and go out in to the sunlight. As soon as I walked out into the sunlight did I realize the urgency of my mistake, I knew I should shine like the rainbow just like Edward did but I didn't, it was just a dull glow, nothing that would keep me inside for the sunny days. I looked up from my non-glowing skin to realize that I had not tried to kill the dozens of people beginning to line the sidewalks and streets. That exited me even more, now I would be able to see my boys again.

I had decided it was not a time to take risks so the first thing I did was drive out to the nearest forest to hunt. After that was over went home to my mother and the twins. But another thought struck me. Now that I was a vampire, how was I going to explain this to my children when they got older, that their mother was stuck forever twenty. When I got home Renee was the first to notice my new look, I was in such a hurry to get home that I did not think to look in the mirror. She said that it was just motherhood finally agreeing with me. Though the bright red eyes freaked her out a little.

Still, no one said anything. Carlisle was the first to speak.

"That's so strange. Who would hate Bella and Edward so much that they would not just kill her on sight?"

Edward growled again and came to stand next to me, wrapping his strong arms around me. I buried my face in his shirt, savoring his scent.

"I don't know. But don't worry Bella. We'll figure this out. If not now than later down the road. This female has to make an appearance sooner or later. What matters right now is that we are all together again." He spoke only to me now. I could see the determination in his eyes. I knew then that I could never bear to leave him again.

"But Edward, if this vampire knows about her, how come she didn't seem to know about the twins? Bella, are you sure that was the only thing she said to you?" Carlisle asked me.

All I did was nod, I was done talking. Carlisle thought for a moment.

"That is strange. What did she look like? Can you remember?" he looked at me expectantly.

I sighed and pulled away from Edward. "Of course. It's not something I could easily forget. She had long black hair, her tattered and ripped clothes suggested she was a nomad, her eyes were gold like all of ours, but when she spoke she sounded like she smoked one too many cigarettes in her human life but she could have easily disguised her voice."

Carlisle seemed to nod to himself, "That doesn't seem like anyone we know."

"Maybe one of the newborns escaped and started sporting a grudge against them." Jasper said. He seemed to be in full-on tactician mode.

Alice shook her head. "No that's impossible. I saw every one of them get killed in the fight."

"I said it doesn't matter!" Edward shouted so loud I had to cover my ears.

Everyone became silent and looked at him. "Look, I don't care who this female thinks she is. I don't care if she comes back. Between the ten of us, there's no way that she'll get away next time."

The conversation was officially dropped.

Everyone became very relaxed suddenly. Every one of the family got up to officially meet their nephews or grandsons and the conversations just flowed from there.

"So, does this mean you guys are back together now?" I heard Rose ask.

Everybody looked at us at this moment, even the twins. I began to open my mouth to say something but Edward answered without missing a beat, "That's not something for us to talk about now; we'll talk about it later."

Everyone seemed to be alright with that answer for now. We then continued to talk all throughout the night, I could not focus on one conversation by itself until I heard, and "So, whose H2 is that out there?" It was Rosalie.

"That's mine." Gabe said.

"Do you mind if I took a look at it? I want to see under the hood."

"Of course not, go ahead. What's mine is yours, Rose." Gabe said in a very polite tone. Rose started to rise then Mason piped in.

"Oh, I'll come with you, I like cars too." Mace stood up, and he and Rose both headed out into the night to see Gabe's Hummer.

"Mace, you touch my car, and you'll be nothing but a pile of ashes." Gabe warned, with a hint of malice in his voice. Edward, from his position sitting between my legs on the floor-I was on the couch- looked at me worriedly. I smiled and shook my head.

"Don't worry. He said this last time Mace put a 10 inch lift kit on his last ford truck, when we lived in Texas at the time and Mace is still alive, though he had chased him halfway to Maine, and wouldn't let him go within a three mile radius of the house for the next two weeks."

We continued talking all night. Most of the talking was done by me, telling stories of the twins when they were babies.

"You wouldn't believe how hard it was keeping two eleven year olds occupied in the middle of the night. I eventually had to take them cloths shopping almost every night. They stopped eating years ago so restaurants were out of the question. We have a few storage spaces here and there just full of cloths. Video games and teaching music also played a big part."

Emmett was eventually called outside to help play the jack. Still we talked, until we got on the subject of sports, then Gabe piped up considerably, "My game of choice was football back in the day." By the time the twins got into high school the first time, they learned how to control their strength, and Gabe went out for football, while Mace went for the track team.

I spoke this thought aloud, then said, "Mace won all of his races, showing off a little bit, and Gabe was the star player on all of his teams, reading minds helped a lot too, he played defensive end. Put quite a few people in the hospital when he got mad too."

"That's cool. Are you playing this year?" Edward asked.

Gabe shook his head. "Nah. I played the last four years at my other schools. I wanted to go for hockey this year but Forks isn't that big of a town so there's not much choice in teams. Maybe the next one."

"Wow, do you think you could teach us to play football? All we really play is baseball; it gets kind of boring after a while. We could play on Wednesday night, the weathers going to be perfect, followed by a sunny day, for us to play. We could play all night then hang out all day." Alice said this, our own personal weather girl, and always ready to try something new.

Emmett came into the room then, with grease on his hands. I groaned inwardly at the thought of how much grease Mace has on him. Gabe was now explaining the basic rule of football, and then he moved on to more technical stuff like, blitzing, sacking, and the complicated juke move. We talked like this about football for the rest of the night until the watch I was wearing started beeping. I sighed. That meant it was time to go get ready for school. You would be amazed at how much you lose track of time when you don't sleep, so I always set my clock to go off at 5:30 every morning, witch left us an hour to get ready. Then half an hour to get to school, and get to classes.

Mace must have heard the beeping sound, because he came in from the garage, and I was right. He was covered almost head to toe in grease.

"You didn't touch my truck did you?" Gabe snarled.

Mason snorted. "No, I didn't touch your precious baby! Do you smell diesel on me?" Uh-oh. I knew what was going to happen next by the tone of Maces' voice.

Gabe's H2 was specially fitted to take only diesel gas, and from what I knew, none of the other Cullen's had diesel vehicles around here.

Gabe took a tentative sniff and growled again. "You did! That's it!" Gabe rose from his chair like a flash of lightning.

But Mace was faster. Laughing almost hysterically, he was already out the front door and halfway down the driveway by the time Gabe made it out the door.

"Take it easy bro! I swear I didn't touch your truck. Emmett has a Mercedes in the garage that's fitted for diesel and Rose let me under the hood." He almost couldn't get out that sentence with all the laughing he was doing. I actually saw a small smirk on Gabriel's face as well.

I don't think Gabriel was listening or he just chose to ignore Mace's comment. He kept trying to grab at Mace's running form, but he kept just half a step ahead of him. Mason was using his power that much was for certain. He would copy Gabe's movements until he was ready and moved just out of reach of Gabe grasping hands. Like I said, just because Gabe was the 'older' brother, didn't mean that he could beat Mason in a fight.

By then all of the Cullen's were gathered on the porch. Edward looked a little fearful, but didn't say anything. I knew that they were playing. By now they were nearing the river and would soon be in it.

So I took matters into my own hands.

I tapped Edward on the shoulder and he turned his head to see me.

"I'll take care of this. Watch." I quickly glided down the steps and close by to the twins. I quickly started playing with the invisible material of my mental shield and expertly stretched it to wrap around Gabriel's rushing form.

It all happened very quickly then.

I saw Mace's eyes widen just before Gabe crashed into him. Despite what I had been trying to avoid, they both ended up toppling into the river.

"Alright! I give! I give! Hahaha! Let me go!" Mace chocked out, still laughing hysterically.

Gabe jumped up and reached his hand down to help his twin up. "I knew you were joking again Mace. Telepathy, remember. I just can't miss out on the chance when it presents itself." Gabe said, slapping Mace on the back, effectively knocking him into the water again.

Once both of them got themselves together again we all walked back up to the house. Every one of the Cullen's was staring at us with mixtures of shock, awe, and confusion in their faces.

"What?" Mason asked, bringing his hands up.

"How…Why…How did…?" _Wow_. Even Emmett could be rendered speechless with the right actions.

"So, what happened out there?" Edward walked down the steps to address us.

I giggled. "Well, like I said, Mace likes to play jokes on everyone around him. So he told Gabe that he messed with his truck when apparently, Emmett has a diesel car in the back. But Gabe can read thoughts like you so he knew he didn't, but Gabe never passes a chance to pick a fight with Mason."

Edward still couldn't say anything, and the twins were of no help. They both walked over to explain to the rest of the family what happened, so I decided to continue. "Well, just because they are both 60 years old, doesn't mean they don't act like 17 year old brothers most of the time."

"I guess that makes sense." A small smile lit up his face, "Funny. For a minute there, I thought Gabriel was really trying to kill Mason."

"Oh, you'll get used to that. It's just a part of our everyday lives." I finished with a smile.

Edward's face darkened for a moment when I said that. He had a look I could only describe as…longing in his eyes. We were startled out of our moment by none other than Mason.

"Well, alright boys and girls! It's time to get this Wagon Train a'movin if we want to be anywhere remotely ready for school on time." Sometimes, I get really annoyed by that power of his.

Everyone got up at that moment, and started hugging me and the twins, saying goodbyes and 'see you after schools'. The rest of the family then went their separate ways into the house leaving me, Edward, and the twins in the driveway.

Edward was the first to address the twins, "Well I'll see you guys today during school, you are more than welcome to sit with us at lunch, in fact, I think if you don't, Alice, Emmett and even Rose will find you and drag you there." he said laughing, and Gabe laughed with him, Mace just smiled. That was so unlike him. I would have to ask him about it when we get to the house.

I chose that moment to say to the kids, "Why don't you go to the Hummer and I'll meet you there in a second."

"Alright mom, don't take too long, I have to get this grease off before school. The water didn't get as much off as I hoped." Mace said, gesturing to himself.

"Oh no. you are not riding in my truck like that, you are running behind us." Gabe said.

"Hey, you're just as wet as I am!"

"Yeah, that's why I keep towels in the trunk. Grease is another story all together." Gabe said as they walked off to his truck. I shook my head, deciding to let them work that out without me.

When Edward and I were finally alone again, he said, "I guess I'll see you in school today, alright?"

"That's fine Edward; you guys can come to our house after school if you want."

Edward said, "That's fine. We'll be there right after school, along with Carlisle, and Esme." he then bent down to press his lips to mine, and like before I could not help myself. My hands entwined in his hair as I pulled his face closer, and his lips parted, and his tongue snaked its way into my mouth. Our kiss was cut short again, but this time it was where Gabe was revving his car and honking his horn. We broke our kiss, said our goodbyes and I went outside to see Mace sitting in the bed of the hummer, and Gabe was sitting on his towel in the driver's seat. **(If you haven't already, just look at my profile and you'll see pictures of the cars they drive.) **I got into the passenger seat, and we were off to our house to get ready for the day.

~o~O~o~

When we got into the house, we all went our separate ways to get ready. The boy's rooms were on the second floor, while mine was on the ground floor. I was done first, so I decided to get Mace's clothes from his bedroom floor, and start them in the wash. I then went to the living room to watch TV while I waited. Surprisingly, Mace was the next one down the steps.

"Hey, mom, can I ask you a question?" I had a feeling this had something to do with Edward.

"Of course." I said. I turned off the TV and looked at him.

"Alright, well when I was in the garage with Rose, she said something about you and Edward getting back together. I was just wondering if you… well if you were." I noticed that he didn't call Edward, his dad.

"Well, we haven't had that discussion yet. Why were you wondering?" I didn't really understand why he would be so tentative to ask me this, as if he were afraid of my answer.

"I was just wondering, I mean I don't really know him yet and if you two did get together he would probably move in right?"

"I don't know. But I wouldn't do anything unless you and Gabe were both okay with it. I would never have someone stay with us unless all of us were comfortable with that situation." I would have thought he'd have known this already.

"Okay, thanks Mom." He stood up and started to walk towards the closet were we kept their backpacks.

"Hey Mason?"

Yeah, Mom?"

"Your father, Edward. He's not a bad guy. You should get to know him."

"I know he's not a bad guy. It's just… he's a bit intimidating don't you think? I mean he's done a lot of really awesome things. Alice told us a lot about him, and a lot about when you two where together before. He just seems really serious all the time. And mom you know me, how often am I actually serious?" He said the last part laughing.

"Not very often. We've all had a lot to deal with lately, just give him time, he'll loosen up. And Emmett is the same way that you are and they both get along so well. It'll just take time. We should do something together as a family, with everyone. I think we were going to play football tomorrow night. Would you like to come?"

"Really? Yes, of course I would, what makes you think I would miss kicking Gabriel's ass across the field." he said loud enough for Gabe to hear.

"I heard that! You are dead so tomorrow night." I heard Gabe's voice ring down upon the living room.

"Alright guys, it's time to go. You ready?" I said.

"Yep." both boys said at the same time, Gabe coming down the stairs.

We both got into our separate cars, and started the mildly short drive to school, all the while I was thinking about how I could not wait to see Edward again, in school or otherwise.

***Just stands there with hands behind back, eyes looking at her feet, shyly kicking at the ground.***

**So what did you think? Please let me know in a review.**

**The whole fight with the twins was simply just to show that they are very much like the 17 year olds I'm trying to create for the story.**

**Next up is another night at Bella's house.**


	5. Forgivness and Drums

**Thanks for all your wonderful reviews. A lot of you are saying that Edward accepted what Bella did a little too easily. I'm not sure if I said so or not to anyone, but I'm not the best writer out there. Believe me, I've read enough FF to know.**

**I do have the ability to create these great stories that you all love so much, but I have a problem with bringing the characters to life. I can't ever seem to make them come alive, and develop them around the story.**

**Anyway the reason he accepting this so easily is because he thought she was dead for all these years.**

**Anyway thanks again for your wonderful reviews!**

When I signed in at the office, the principal stopped me before I made my way to my classroom, "Ms. Swan, do you have a minute?" The principal was a tall older man, with greying temples and a physique that suggested he worked out quite often.

"Yes sir. What do you need?"

"I just wanted to tell you that one of the new students Edward Cullen came to my office this morning, and asked if he could become your senior aid. Now, I know he's not a senior yet, but he has third period free, and I know that is your fullest class, so I thought I could make an exception this time, as long as he helps you when you need it, and does not fall behind on his studies. His records from his last school were all A pluses, so he's already ahead."

"Sure. Edward was a very helpful student in class yesterday. I would love to have him as my aid." I lied about him being helpful, he just stared at me the whole period, but the principal doesn't need to know that. And besides, third period was the class I had Mace in as well, maybe that would be a good place for them to talk.

"Alright, I'll tell him right away. He's actually in my office right now. He just wouldn't leave until I spoke with you." The principal then shrugged and shook his head, and turned toward his office. I peeked around him to see Edward, in his office, in front of the desk. As soon as the principal was not looking at either of us, Edward winked at me and gave me a sly smile. I tried to smile back but just then, Gabriel entered my field of vision.

"You know, mom, he really does love you. I don't understand what Mace has against him." Gabe stated.

"Mace does not have a problem with him; it's just that he did not get to know him at all last night." I was surprised that Gabe just said that Edward still loved me.

"Well, he should have come out of the garage."

"It's alright Gabe; he'll get another chance tonight."

"We're going over there again?" Gabe asked, excited.

"No, even better, they are coming over our house." I said with as much excitement as he used.

"Excellent. I'll show them my drum set, and Mace and dad can get better acquainted. That way I won't have to listen to his indecision anymore." I did not miss the fact that Gabe just called him dad, and the fact that he really does care for his little brother. "Ya know, sometimes I think Mace forgets that I can hear his thoughts, and he can hear mine. He wants to get to know him, but he's afraid that dad will not like him the way he is." Gabe said. And with that he went off to his first class.

Wow. Mace was afraid? I did not think that such a thing would ever happen. Mason was always fearless as a child, and during his first hunting trip. He was the one sticking his nose where it did not belong, and Gabe was the one to get his butt out of trouble. I would have to see if I can keep Edward after his class today and talk to him about this.

~o~O~o~

Third period came on fast, and when everyone was in their seats, I introduced Edward as my senior aid and said, "You can ask Edward for anything, he knows this material very well, probably just as well as I." I added, just to give him a little boost to his ego. Edward said "hello" to the class and went to take a seat at the back of the classroom.

I handed out graded homework and then got to work.

"Alright guys. Today there will be a group project. Everyone break up into teams of two and write a one page paper about what you think Macbeth's soliloquy means in act 5,scene 5. And I want details."

Everyone started chattering about what groups they wanted to be in. When the noise died down and everyone had their tables shifted and was in their groups they began working.

Edward walked to a few groups here and there, sitting down and chatting with them, helping them along, sometimes he just sat and watched. I couldn't help but notice that Mason was eyeing him almost half of the class, trying to be subtle about it but I sure noticed. Edward didn't seem to notice though, he had his back turned talking to a couple of boys who were on the school's basketball team.

It was almost as if he was shy about looking at him. Now that I knew what to look for, I saw it in Mace's eyes almost all the time. The shy, quiet turmoil in my sons mind telling him that he had a father but wasn't sure if he would like him or not.

After that class was over, and everyone, including Mace, was gone; I pulled Edward to the side and said in very quiet voice, "I need to talk to you about Mason after your class with me today."

"It's nothing bad is it?" he asked. Then I remembered that Edward could not read the twins minds, or mine, unless I lifted my shield away from my mind.

"No, but, hopefully it can be solved tonight."

"Alright love, I'll see you then." he said, then swiftly leaned in to brush his lips to mine. I visibly shuddered at this contact, and he smiled, and left for his next class.

Sixth period came and went without incident, and then I pulled Edward aside again and then said, "Ok, so Gabe told me that Mace was afraid to get to know you because he was worried that you would not like him. He's intimidated by you."

"Really? He's… intimidated by me? Now that I think about it, he was awfully quiet during lunch. But why would he be worried? He's my son, why would I not like him?

"I'm not sure exactly. I guess it's just because you're not as outgoing as Alice or Emmett. And he doesn't have anything that he knows of, in common with you. But once you guys get to know each other I think it'll be easier. I just don't think he'll do that himself, you'll have to do it. But like I said, hopefully it can be solved tonight when everyone comes over. Gabe said he'll show everyone his drum set, so you guys can talk some more."

"Well, I'm glad you told me this. I'll talk to him tonight then. Don't worry about a thing."

"Great, thank you Edward."

"Don't worry, love, I'll take care of everything."

"Alright, I'll see you after school at our house, Oh, before I forget; here are the directions to the house." I gave him a piece of paper that had our address on it. I had made it this morning while waiting for the twins to come down the stairs. But Edward, just smiled at me, and tossed the paper into the trash can by my desk.

"It's alright love, we'll just follow you, Carlisle, and Esme will meet us here and we'll all go together." Once again, he quickly leaned in and brushed his lips against mine, and then left for his last class of the day.

Because seventh period was my free time, I decided to catch up on grading last week's tests about Macbeth, still a classic.

It was finally the end of the day, and because teachers were not allowed to leave until all of the students have either left, or gone off to their extracurricular activities, I was forced to wait until 3:30 to leave. When I got down to the front door I saw Edward, Mace, and Gabe all waiting for me. Mace was about three feet away from Edward, and Gabe, was standing right next to his father. I sighed, and then when I got there, Edward greeted me and, we all went outside.

Once outside, Gabe, and Mace went to their cars, and I saw a black Mercedes behind them, which held Carlisle at the wheel, and Esme in the passenger seat. They waved at us and went to follow the twin's cars that were already leaving the parking lot.

I got into my truck, Edward got into his Volvo, along with all the rest of the other Cullen's, and we all drove to my house. On the way I was suddenly self-conscious about the less than perfect condition I left the house in this morning. Well, it's nothing like dirty dishes scattered everywhere. It was more like some cloths scattered about, and books left almost everywhere, but that was nothing I could not get before they entered the house.

When I got to the house, followed by Edward's car, the twins were already entertaining Carlisle and Esme in the driveway. We got our cars parked, and I excused myself to go clean up the house a little bit. After that was done I came out to see Edward and Mason gone. I was about to ask were they had gone but Alice chimed in.

"They went a few miles up north to have a race. Edward remembered that Mason liked to run on the track team, so he challenged him to a race." So Edward was thinking about this all day. And he remembered that Mace liked to run.

I ushered the remaining Cullen's into the house. Esme gasped when she got inside. It was nothing like the Cullen's mansion, but it was home. It was a good sized two story house with three bedrooms, and two bathrooms. We added a third bathroom for me down the hall. We also added a three car garage for Gabe and Mace for their activities.

I said all of this, and then I started showing them around the house.

"That's my room down the hall, along with the bathroom we added. And the boy's rooms are upstairs."

"Bella, this is a lovely house." Esme said, in a breathless voice.

"Yeah Bella, you finally got some sense of style." Alice said at this point, appearing proud of herself.

I was very happy to hear that they liked the house, but all of my thoughts were going back to wherever Edward and Mace are. I left Esme and Alice admiring my kitchen and went to find Gabe, knowing he could tell me what's going on out there. I found him sitting on the porch steps looking north. So, he was already checking on his little brother. I sat down beside him, and looked him in the eye. Gabe gave one small nod and then I released my mental shield and pushed it around my son. The first thoughts that came to us were:

_This is so much fun, I'll have to remember to thank mom for this later _Mason's thoughts came in loud and clear. I quickly disconnected my shield and looked at my oldest son.

"Looks like Mace is on board for dad as well, now." He said.

"Yeah, looks like it." I said, finally relieved to have both of my sons like Edward as much as I like him. We both went inside to chat with the rest of the family. About three hours later, around six o' clock, Edward and Mace came striding into the house, Edward's arm around Mace's shoulders. Mace just then had tried to mock punch Edward in the arm, but Edward deftly dodged it and mock punched Mace in the gut, both of them smiling, and laughing.

I was so happy to see my youngest son finally having fun with his father. After a little while, Gabe ushered the rest of the family outside to see his drum set, leaving Edward, and myself in the living room. We stared at each other for God knows how long, when Edward broke the silence:

"Well, Mace had a lot of fun with racing me this afternoon. He actually beat me on a few races." Edward said sounding almost proud, leaning back into the couch he was sitting in, across from me.

"I know Edward, I listened in." I said in a smug voice…smug that my son beat his father.

"What? You could hear us? But we were at least ten miles to the north. Not even the best vampires in the world could have a hope of hearing us from here." He said shocked.

"No, I didn't hear you specifically; I listened in on Gabe's thoughts. As long as I'm near him, I can hear Mace's thoughts." I said.

Finally getting over his shock Edward asked, "So you can hear someone's thoughts as long as you're near someone with the mind reading ability?"

"Right, if I was near Alice, I could use her talent to see visions, and when I'm near Gabe, I can hear other people's thoughts. Also, when I lift my shield, you can hear my thoughts, and Gabe, and Mace can hear inside each other's head all the time, no matter what. They can turn it off between each other though."

"So that explains you talking to me in school the other day." Edward said, effectively dropping the subject. "So, do the twins have anything else in common with me?"

"Well, Gabriel likes music a lot, but he chose to play the drums instead of the piano. And Mace likes to run a lot, like I said. As I'm sure you noticed, Gabe looks more like you, and Mace looks more like me then you, but they can still pass as twins."

I was really in danger of Edwards head exploding sometime soon. He looked so happy and proud for his children that I was getting worried.

"Can you talk to me again?" he said suddenly, very excited, leaning forward on the couch.

"Sure, what do you want me to say?" I asked leaning forward in my comfy armchair across from him, so that we were within touching distance.

He gave a sly smile, and said, "Tell me you love me."

I gave him the same smile back and lifted my shield from my body, and said, _I love you Edward, more than you'll ever know._

Without missing a beat, he thought back, _As I love you. Thank you for coming back to me._

We stared at each other for an impossible amount of time, when Edward started inching forward, still sitting on the couch. I copied each of his movements, and leaned forward, and met my lips with his.

I began the same way as our first kiss in the garage started, but with a little more fervor because he knew that I would not reject him. My lips parted when his tongue brushed against them, asking for entrance. The sounds of drums, and radio music came from the garage, but that did not stop us. In the midst of the kiss, his hands managed to easily lift my body up, and he attempted to sit me on his lap. I was having none of that. Before I sat down, a managed to maneuver my body so that I was straddling Edward's lap, never breaking the kiss. A low moan escaped his throat when I wove my hands through his hair. Edward kept his hands securely on my hips.

We stayed like that for a long time, our lips never leaving each other's, except for the occasional, "I love you." His lips suddenly broke our kiss to venture to my neck then to my collarbone. We never had to break off our kiss like we did when I was human. There was no need. I was just as invincible as he was now.

Edward caressed my waist slowly up towards my ribcage, until he did something that shocked me. He continued to caress my ribcage until his thumb brushed the underside of my breast. This action startled me, so I pulled back to stare at him. All I could hear at that moment were the sounds of our breathing. He immediately placed his hand back on my hip and stared back.

"Bella, I want you, love. I need you. I know this is sudden, but thinking you were dead all these years and now you suddenly come back to me. You have no idea how confusing that is for someone. But I'm sure of what I want, and it's you. It's always been you, Bella. Please, tell me you want me too. Please?" Edward pleaded. When he was done, he laid his head on my shoulder, probably to hide his expression from me.

"Edward, you know I love you more than anything, and I want you too, but we can't do this here. Not with everyone here. And besides, we are not married."

"That didn't stop us back then." Edward countered, lifting his head up to look at me again, nothing but love, and want in his eyes.

I removed myself from his lap to sit beside him on the couch, and moved to hold his hand. "Edward, that was different, we're different, and I'm different now. And I have two sons I have to think about first now. I won't do anything without first asking them if they want you in their lives, being with us."

"But they like me already. Please, Bella let me be in their lives, as their father. They may be 60 years old but it's just been you and them until now. They need a male figure in their lives.

"Edward, you're talking like they're impressionable, 5 year olds. Not to mention, you're making me sound like I was a bad mom." I finished, brisling.

Edward ran a nervous hand through his hair, speaking more quickly now. "I'm sorry. This isn't coming out like I had thought it would." He let go of my hand to stand and start pacing around the room. Finally, he stopped at the window that gives a view to the garage from the hallway. I could just see out there from where I was. Gabriel was standing behind Jasper sitting on the drum stool, teaching him some snare and bass beats. Everyone was gathered around in rapt attention.

"When you left, I really didn't know what to do with myself. Part of me, well almost all of me wanted to throw your note in the trash and go find you, to demand why you wanted to leave. But then the other part of me had a thought. An 'ah-ha' moment if you will. I thought that you finally gained some sense after the newborn fight. You finally saw us for the monsters that we are. In the weeks leading up to when you left, I know the reason now, but you were just acting so strange. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was wrong. You were so distant from everyone, including Charlie." He stopped looking out the window to turn in my direction, a sad look in his eyes.

"So, I thought you finally gained some perspective. It hurt me very deeply but in the end I finally decided to let you live your human life away from all this." I stayed holed up in my room for months. I didn't talk to anyone. As much as it hurt me and my whole family, even Rosalie, I prepared to live the rest of my existence without ever seeing you again."

"One particularly hard time was much like when I left after your birthday and I thought you were dead. Alice had to stop me from going back to Volterra about forty-five years ago when I came across your gravestone."

My breath caught in my throat. I knew he saw it before when I found them in school but I couldn't help but wonder if he ever took a close look at it.

"Wh-What did you see on it?" I had to ask.

He paused for a moment, turning his head to look out the window for a moment more before turning back to me again.

"It read: 'Here lies Isabella Swan, beloved daughter.' It also had your birth date on it. The death date would put you at around 32 years of age when you 'died' right?"

I slowly nodded my head, lowering it to the floor. I couldn't look him in the eye. I had never even thought about that before. All these years I thought I was protecting him and the boys but in reality, I was only hurting everyone around me. It was like my very own soap opera, except where no one can cry and no one dies in the end. I was the woman who left her boyfriend because she was pregnant and didn't return till years later with teenagers in tow.

"So how did you do it?" There was no emotion in his voice, almost like he didn't care.

"I uh…Had it planned out for a few years at that point. I managed to erase any and all records of the twins being born or existing at all, so they would not write the word 'mother' on my gravestone. Before you say anything, it wasn't so you wouldn't find out; it was for whoever changed me. I didn't want them to know about the boys if they did at all. After that was done the boys had a little too much fun and made a show of lighting my car on fire and pushing it off a cliff not far from here. The car was there for about three weeks before anyone noticed it hidden in the woods. By then we had moved to Maine so to be as far away as possible without having to go out of the country."

Edward nodded slowly, seeming to take all of the information in before speaking. "So, where were your parents then?"

"Uh…Charlie was on patrol one night until he was hit by a drunk driver about three years before my 'death'. He died instantly, so he didn't suffer. Renee and Phil lived till about 15 years ago. Phil had a heart attack and died almost immediately after, and Renee died peacefully in her sleep three months after. I couldn't go to Charlie's funeral cause then everyone would recognize me so the boys and I watched from afar. I was scared to death about Renee's funeral. We went hoping no one would know who we were. We just played the part of being friends of her daughter. I had already been changed and left long before any of this happened."

Edward nodded. "Alice had a vision about Charlie. It was only about six seconds before he got hit so there was nothing we could do at the time. I'm so sorr-"

I immediately put my hands up to stop him. "It's okay Edward. You don't have to apologize. I've already accepted their deaths. What happened to them is nothing compared to what I put you through."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that all this time I was here walking around right underneath your nose and I didn't even try to find you. All this time I thought I was doing what was best for the twins and for you, but I can see now that was all for nothing. I hurt you and your family so deeply that I'm not sure even an eternity is enough time to make up for what I've done." I dropped my head into my hands, dry sobs beginning at the back of my throat.

Before I was even aware it was happening, I was on Edward's lap, my head cradled into the crook of his neck, his nose resting on the top of my head. He was sitting in the same spot on the couch I was previously in and rocking back and forth in soothing movements.

"Bella, you don't have to apologize to me. You never have to apologize for anything. If somewhere along the line I made you think that I didn't want children. I'm extremely sorry. I wasn't even sure that vampires could father kids but I'm more than happy that it happened. I'm ecstatic. I now have the children that I've wanted for more years then I care to admit. It doesn't matter that I missed their baby years, what matters is that they are here and that you are here with me…at last." I couldn't help it. The dry sobs in the back of my throat reached their climax as I wrapped my arms around him, holding him close as I let the sounds inside me loose.

Butterfly touches skimmed over my skin, gentle and comforting, trying to get me to calm down. If it was possible, I leaned into him more.

"Bella." Edward spoke with a low volume, meant for my ears only, not that the music in the next room meant anyone else could hear us. I looked up into his liquid amber eyes, waiting. "I love you more than anything. Gabriel and Mason also mean everything to me. There's nothing that I can say that will convince you that I love you as much as I do. So I can only do this…"

Edward lifted me and him off of the couch, and set me down on it facing him. He then got down to kneel before me, still holding my hand. "Bella, you and the twins mean more to me than anything on this plant, even my family. I know I don't have your ring on me, but please don't let that confuse you. Bella, will you be my wife? Will you marry me?"

I froze, taken aback by his sudden proposal that I could not say anything for a few moments, I was just staring at him, blindsided. Outside, the sound of drums, and music stopped, waiting for my answer. I was still staring into his amber eyes when I noticed that both of my sons had raced into the house, leaving the rest of the family outside. I watched as both Mace and Gabe stood not far behind Edward and gave me a firm, but subtle nod, sincere smiles on both of their faces. Edward somehow noticed this too and his smile widened.

I let out the breath I didn't know I had been holding and smiled at them both, reassuring them, then turned to Edward, a big goofy grin on my face at this point, and said, "Yes, Edward. I will marry you. And this time I won't run away." For me, for our children.

Edward let out a small breath, stood, still holding my hand, pulled me up with him. He took me into his strong arms, and gave me the most passionate of kisses. The only reason we stopped was because Gabriel had cleared his throat. Edward separated our lips, then turned to the twins, "Looks like you're stuck with me now." He said with the same goofy smile on his face that I had not a moment ago.

"Oh no. how will we cope?" Mace said, dramatically, putting his arm over his eyes, looking lost and forlorn, all the while having a huge smile on his face.

"Does this mean he'll be moving in with us, or will we be moving in with them?" Gabriel asked, with the same smile. Clearly they were happy for us.

"We'll leave that up to your mother. Our house can easily fit all of us." Edward said looking back at me.

"Well discuss that later. Right now we need to get ready for school." I did not need my watch to remind me this time. The lightning of the sky outside was clue enough for me. At that moment, the rest of the family came in to congratulate us. Esme gave me and the twins a big motherly hug and welcomed us into the family.

After congrats were out if the way, the Cullen's left in their cars to get ready for today, but not before needlessly reminding me about the football game tonight. We all got ready for the boring day ahead, making it to school before the Cullen's. When they got there we greeted each other as if we were no more than students and teachers, keeping up appearances on the outside. After the greeting, we all went inside to enjoy our boring day.

**Just in case anyone's wondering, the ****soliloquy that I was referring to was in Macbeth, when his wife killed herself.**

**I hope that I portrayed Edward good enough when he said he was hurt.**

**Let me know what you think in a review. They make my day!**


	6. Working together

**Hey there. Sorry for the week long delay. I've had a bad case of writers block but I seems to be gone now. **

I looked on as Gabriel, and Mason were 'warming up' for the game this afternoon, in the northern corner of Olympic National Park. It was a very secluded spot about 30 miles from Forks.

Edward thought that his meadow would be good enough, but Gabriel stopped that thought cold, by saying that we'll need at least 2 miles of clear, open space to play in. Right after school, the three of us went with Alice and the rest of the Cullen's to wait in the field, while Edward went home to get Esme, and Carlisle. The sky was darkening, threatening with rain and thunder, but Alice had assured us that there would be no rain, only the noise we needed to play in.

Esme had been working all day in the back yard to build a pair of goal posts for the game, and Edward was on his way to pick them up.

The twins' 'warm up' was an understatement. They were punching, kicking, and lunging at each other like they were in a real fight. I had already thrust my mental shield around Gabriel to keep Mason from cheating. Mace could easily use his talent to gain the upper hand and I was used to keep anyone from cheating. I had to stay close by to keep the shield intact. As they battled on, neither one having the upper hand, not knowing what the other one is going to do, Edward and his parents showed up in Emmett's jeep with the homemade posts on the top.

Edward immediately came to my side, kissed me on my temple, and watched in fascination at the twins speed, his arm around me. I had seen this all our lives, so it was nothing surprising to me, but Edward had not seen them in their little fight mode yet. Just then Mace gained the upper hand on Gabe as he delivered as punch to Gabe's torso and sent him flying. Gabe recovered before he hit the ground and shuffled away from him, in full defense mode.

"Wow. They're really good." Edward observed.

I smiled. "Yeah, they do this all the time."

"Hm. Want to come help us set up the posts?"

"I can't. I have to stay nearby to keep my shield around Gabe."

"Wow. You mean you're doing it now? I can't hear your thoughts."

"Heh. That's just the way my shield works. I have to concentrate to lift the shield from around my brain, but it's no problem to put it around someone else."

"I don't understand" Edward said, tilting his head to the side.

I thought for a moment. "Well, think of my shield as in two parts. There's the one that's always around my brain, and I have to pay attention to lift it away so you or the boys need to hear my thoughts. Then there's the part that's always around my body. That doesn't take nearly as much concentration to stretch around someone. I'm still having trouble learning to pull both of them away from me. It just takes so much out of me."

"Oh, okay. It's like your own personal cocoon. Always there unless you take it away yourself."

I smiled at his comment. Edward looked into my eyes, a warm smile on his handsome face. His hand that was around my waist started rubbing small circles on my hip.

When Mason got close enough to him, Gabe set out to punch Mason in the head, but Mace dodged and let out a barrage of punches to Gabe's chest. Gabe expertly dodged all but the last one, and punched Mace square in the jaw, sending in a spiral towards the ground.

They continued chasing after each other, punching and kicking, completely oblivious to the world around them, until Rose called out, "Guys we better get this game going. Emmett's straining at the leach on join in over here." Edward and I looked over to Rosalie literally holding Emmett back from joining in the fight. The fact that her small body actually being able to hold Emmett off at all was amazing in itself.

I laughed at the sight before us and said, "Emmett, you can't fight the twins."

Emmett had stopped trying to pull against Rose slightly to ask, "Why?"

"Because you would actually hurt them, that's why. They aren't made of stone like us."

Almost everyone turned to look at me. Well, everyone except the boys, who were in their own little world.

"What do you mean? They don't have skin like ours?" Carlisle asked, watching the boys spar.

"Well, it's sort of complicated. See, because I was human when they were born, their skin is semi-soft like mine. Kind of like a stone covered in a thick shroud of velvet, where as ours is just…stone, you see. That puts them at a disadvantage when fighting other vampires but their abilities more than make up for it. Emmett would be able to hurt them, not because he stronger, but because they have half of Edwards skin and half mine. They do however; have all the speed and strength of a full vampire. " I finished looking over at Gabe and Mace, still fighting.

"Simply amazing." Carlisle finished watching the twins as well.

"Aw man! That means that we have to let up when we're playing?" Emmett asked. He had completely stopped trying to join in their sparing practice.

"No not necessarily Emmett. They are still full-fledged vampires. You just can't go around intentionally trying to hurt them."

"Oh alright. As long as we can still play."

Edward and I both laughed and I called the twins off each other and we got this game going. There were ten of us, all of us joining in, so the teams were quickly formed. They consisted of: Edward, myself, Gabriel, Esme, and Carlisle. And the other team was: Emmett, Rose, Mason, Alice, and Jasper. Emmett was eager to test his strength against the twins but he could settle for Gabe since the twins wanted to play each other. The twins had been explaining the rules and moves of football to the Cullen's all day in school, so all that was left was to start the game.

Emmett's team had the ball first, so they started off at the far end of the field to kick off to us. As soon as Emmett's shoe-covered foot came into contact with the ball-basically a football shaped rock covered in pigskin felt-, it shot off in the air towards us like a bat out of hell. Edward caught the ball and immediately began running towards our goal post, the rest of us following closely behind to ward off the other team.

As soon as both teams came into contact, an earsplitting crash came from Emmett and Edward that hurt even my ears. We were stopped at the halfway point to our post. It was then time for the standoff. We all got into formation, and Edward handed the ball off to Gabriel, who then threw it off to Carlisle before getting sacked by Emmett. Carlisle ran it almost forty feet before getting taken out by Jasper.

The next set started then. Edward hiked the ball to Gabe, who was almost immediately sacked by Emmett. This caused Gabe to fumble the ball. There was a flurry of activity to retrieve the ball. In the end, Alice was the one who retrieved the ball. That meant that we were on defense now. Emmett quickly got into position behind Jasper, who hiked the ball to him, and immediately turned to take down Carlisle. With everyone getting knocked down, this meant that I had a clear shot towards Emmett. I took it.

I expertly weaved in and out of the others way on my way to him, before he could throw the ball to Rose waiting out in the field. I managed to sack him but Emmett being Emmett; he did not go down easily. Just then Gabe appeared in my line of sight and tackled Emmett from the other side. Together, we both managed to take him down before he threw the ball.

The whole game was a blur of everyone having fun, and the occasional, "Hey, you cheated!" to Edward, Gabriel or even Alice whenever they sacked someone. By the end of the game the score was us at 234 and them with a score of 242. It was all because Emmett was the quarterback; he was very hard to take out by just one or two people. The thunder stopped long before we did, and the sky was beginning to lighten up, with the promise of a sunny day.

~o~O~o~

"That was the best game I ever played!" Gabe yelled out then fell to the ground exhausted.

"Yeah, that was fun. We'll have to do it again soon. Baseball gets really boring after a while." Emmett's voice rang out across the field at us. I heard Alice chime in then.

"Don't worry the will be another storm in almost a month, we'll play then." Alice said with a confident tone, sitting in Jaspers lap, leaning against a tree.

I sat in Edwards lap on the far end of the field, next to Esme and Carlisle, who were discussing something I felt no need to listen in on. All I could see, and feel was Edward. He had one of his hands in my hand, and his other hand on my thigh rubbing small circles, while my head was leaned against his shoulder, my eyes closed, listening to his breathing.

"Mm." I heard Edward say suddenly.

"What are you doing?" I asked. I lifted my head to turn and look at him

His answer was, "Bella, you have been out of my life for far too long. I almost forgot what you smelled like, so I'm just remembering."

"Huh, so what do I smell like?" I asked, curious, but a smile still in my voice.

"Amazingly enough, you still smell like the day you did when I first met you." he said, then leaned his head back to my shoulder, where it stayed there.

~o~O~o~

We were all crowded inside the Cullen's large living room around six am, just talking and laughing. It was so easy to fit in with our new family than I thought it would be. Gabe was on the floor in the middle of the living room talking about music with Edward, Mace was sitting on the couch chatting about supping up my truck some more with Rosalie, and I was just sitting beside Jasper on the couch, watching my sons interact with their family.

I watched as the suns first rays of light shone through the Cullen's glass wall they call a window, and hit Gabriel at just the right angle. He shone with a faint glow. Emmett was the first to notice this.

"Dude! I thought you guys were kidding when you said you two didn't shine like us!"

"Yeah, it's been like this for as long as we remember. It's nothing new." Gabe said, waving it off.

"The hell it's not." Emmett was closest to mason so he leaned over Rosalie's form to poke mason in the arm repeatedly.

"Hey, dude, stop" Mace said trying to get off of the couch.

"No way man. This is so cool." Emmett retorted while following Mace around the house, poking him in the arm or shoulder or back.

"Emmett, I'm serious. Back off or you're gonna be sorry." Mace said with an air of malice. But only an air. I saw a ghost of a smirk cross his face. He spun on his heel to look Emmett in the eye, even though he was almost a foot and a half shorter than him

"Again. No way. I'm having too much fun to stop this." He said poking Mason in the chest, actually pushing him back. Mace stumbled back about three feet.

"Ok, that's it!" Was all Mace said before he lunged.

Emmett was ready for it. He grabbed Mace by his shoulders and slammed him down to the ground, carefully so as not to hurt him. I heard Esme gasp softly.

Mace got up three seconds later with a bored expression.

_Uh-oh_ I knew that look.

"Come on. Bring it." Mason said softly. He wasn't in any sort of defensive or offensive pose so I knew he was going to use his power.

Emmett stalked forward slowly. I knew that he knew what Mace's ability was, having seen it first hand when we came here that first night.

When Mace didn't appear to move, that only made Emmett more smug. He started walking forward a little more quickly and move to Mace's one side to get a better jump on him. Mason all the while was calmly watching him from the corner of his eye.

Mace was biding his time. His power was fully enabled now. He was just waiting…

His waiting paid off. The second Emmett got at just the right angle, Gabe rushed him.

Emmett wasn't expecting that. Caught off guard he was thrown to the ground by the front door, Gabe landing on top of him.

"Whoa!" Emmett breathed. He looked up and saw Gabriel above him. "Hey! No fair, cheating! I call foul! Unnecessary Roughness!" Emmett was ranting.

Gabe stood up, laughing, "Emmett were not playing football anymore."

"I don't care. I was having fun with Mason until you decided to barge in." He said while picking himself up off the floor.

"Heh. I'll try to not take offence to that. You mess with Mason. You get his brother too." He looked over at Mace who was laughing uncontrollably on the floor right beside where Emmett was a second ago.

Everyone, including myself was laughing as well.

Mason walked over to stand by me, "I could have taken him." He grumbled but I could still see the smile that played across his lips.

A laughing Alice chimed in then. "I saw it happen. I could resist the chance for Emmett to get…what's…"

I noticed her eyes then, they were glassy and staring at nothing.

_Huh. It's rare when a vision makes her stop talking. _I chuckled to myself until I noticed she had a slight frown on her face.

To make matters worse, Edward suddenly appeared at my side, crouched and snarling, looking around for some unknown threat.

I leaned down to stand over him, franticly searching his face for a clue to what was happening. His eyes were swimming with hate and fear and worry.

"Edward, tell me what is wrong," I demanded. He said nothing, only continued snarling.

Alice finally snapped out of her vision. "Alice, what did you see?" Carlisle said gently.

"An island, they are on an island. An island somewhere between here and California. That might be Alcatraz.

"Alice, who?" Jasper prodded.

"They are planning an attack." She said in that same detached voice. Not answering his question.

"Who?" Emmett demanded.

"It will be fairly soon." She still didn't answer the question. Edward suddenly stood and wrapped his arms around me. I rubbed his arms. I could see the twins standing off to the side with very confused looks on their faces.

"Alice, _who_?" I cried out.

She looked at me. A painful look on her face.

"I…I don't know."

**My first cliffy! YAY! Please let me know what you think!**

**I also wanted to let everyone know. If you would remember, I said that I had the first 5 chapters ready to go. Well this is it.**

**Now I have to work on them in my spare time in between taking care of my ten month old that just learned to use her feet.**

**The updates will ****no longer**** be once a week I'm afraid.**

**Thank you for keeping up with me this long. I look forward to your reviews for this chapter. If you have any ideas about what should happen next, feel free to let me know.**


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